Southern Linc
About
Southern Linc is a wireless communications network that covers three electric utilities in the Southeast: Alabama Power, Georgia Power, and Mississippi Power. Southern Linc needed five eCommerce websites for their Commercial, Affiliate, Public Sector, Major Account and Dealer stores. All websites needed similar path-to-purchase experiences.
About
Southern Linc is a wireless communications network that covers three electric utilities in the Southeast: Alabama Power, Georgia Power, and Mississippi Power. Southern Linc needed five eCommerce websites for their Commercial, Affiliate, Public Sector, Major Account and Dealer stores. All websites needed similar path-to-purchase experiences.
Project Highlights + Solutions
Problem
Users could shop for a device or shop for a service plan, but if they needed both, they would have to complete two different path-to-purchase workflows to add these to the cart. Southern Linc needed a “select a device first” or “select a service plan first” guided workflow for their customers.
Solution
This was achieved by creating a “hub” with multi variant matching. In one workflow, a customer can multi select devices / multi select services and add to cart. Within this hub customers can also set their area code, exchange and create a holder name for each line of service [ if purchasing a new device ]. If they have an existing device, they need to be able to set the items mentioned above, an IMEI number, SIM ID and NTID.
Problem
Users could shop for a device or shop for a service plan, but if they needed both, they would have to complete two different path-to-purchase workflows to add these to the cart. Southern Linc needed a “select a device first” or “select a service plan first” guided workflow for their customers.
Solution
This was achieved by creating a “hub” with multi variant matching. In one workflow, a customer can multi select devices / multi select services and add to cart. Within this hub customers can also set their area code, exchange and create a holder name for each line of service [ if purchasing a new device ]. If they have an existing device, they need to be able to set the items mentioned above, an IMEI number, SIM ID and NTID.
Recommendation
Add in a progress bar to provide visibility on 1. How many steps the user can expect to go through and gauge the time commitment, 2. Which step(s) they have completed and which step they are presently on, and 3. To always show how much money is due at check out and how much money is due monthly [ for service ].
Recommendation
Add in a progress bar to provide visibility on 1. How many steps the user can expect to go through and gauge the time commitment, 2. Which step(s) they have completed and which step they are presently on, and 3. To always show how much money is due at check out and how much money is due monthly [ for service ].
Problem
There is a unique use-case where customers already have a Southern Linc device and only need to add a service. The old site did not allow for this to be achieved online.
Solution
Add in an option, at the top of the devices PDP, for customers to click a checkbox that says “Use my existing Southern Linc device(s)” and set the quantity of devices they have.
Problem
There is a unique use-case where customers already have a Southern Linc device and only need to add a service. The old site did not allow for this to be achieved online.
Solution
Add in an option, at the top of the devices PDP, for customers to click a checkbox that says “Use my existing Southern Linc device(s)” and set the quantity of devices they have.
Recommendation
When users enter in their quantity on a product tile, keep the quantity entry field displayed so users can keep track of how many of each device they have set.
Recommendation
When users enter in their quantity on a product tile, keep the quantity entry field displayed so users can keep track of how many of each device they have set.
Recommendation
[ In the package workflow ] since we bypass the PDP, add in an opportunity to cross-sell merchandise at the product level before before pushing the customer to cart. If users are purchasing a phone, most likely they will need a charger too. By showing the product image, title and quantity, and assigning a product grid that displays only accessories that are compatible with the device, for each device, customers can easily keep track of what they need and the quantity they need.
Recommendation
[ In the package workflow ] since we bypass the PDP, add in an opportunity to cross-sell merchandise at the product level before before pushing the customer to cart. If users are purchasing a phone, most likely they will need a charger too. By showing the product image, title and quantity, and assigning a product grid that displays only accessories that are compatible with the device, for each device, customers can easily keep track of what they need and the quantity they need.
Recommendation
On the 404 page, provide links for users to continue their journey instead of leaving users at a dead end.
Recommendation
On the 404 page, provide links for users to continue their journey instead of leaving users at a dead end.
What I Enjoyed About This Project
Being forced to work and think harder
This was probably one of the most complex projects I have worked on, but I enjoyed every challenge that it produced. Keeping in mind that every edge case was an equally important use case. Thinking about all use cases for all five sites upfront was also challenging when putting together the wireframes because there were more than the typical amount I am used to when working on a project.
Go live set for EOY 2022
